Thursday, January 12, 2017

A trio of friends from
New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game
that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of
other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji
with a Middle Eastern flair.

When twelve-year-old Farah and her
two best friends get sucked into a mechanical board game called The
Gauntlet of Blood and Sand—a puzzle game akin to a large Rubik’s
cube—they know it’s up to them to defeat the game’s diabolical architect
in order to save themselves and those who are trapped inside, including
her baby brother Ahmed. But first they have to figure out how.

Under
the tutelage of a lizard guide named Henrietta Peel and an aeronaut
Vijay, the Farah and her friends battle camel spiders, red scorpions,
grease monkeys, and sand cats as they prepare to face off with the
maniacal Lord Amari, the man behind the machine. Can they defeat Amari
at his own game…or will they, like the children who came before them,
become cogs in the machine?

A 13 year-old
robotics whiz is thrilled to be chosen to train for an international
mission to Mars, but soon finds herself and her fellow cadets in a
situation far more dire and deadly than any of them could have imagined.

A thirteen-year-old
master chef has a lot to prove as she tries to run a five-star
restaurant, cook the perfect dragon cuisine, repay a greedy loan shark,
and outsmart the Elven mafia in this entertaining novel that combines
all of the best ingredients—fantasy, humor, adventure, action, cute
boys, and a feisty heroine!

Lailu Loganberry is an expert at hunting dangerous beasts. And she’s even better at cooking them.

For
years Lailu has trained to be the best chef in the city. Her specialty?
Monster cuisine. When her mentor agrees to open a new restaurant with
Lailu as the head chef, she’s never been more excited. But her
celebration is cut short when she discovers that her mentor borrowed
money from Mr. Boss, a vicious loan shark. If they can’t pay him back,
Lailu will not only lose her restaurant—she’ll have to cook for Mr. Boss
for the rest of her life.

As Lailu scrambles to raise the money
in time, she becomes trapped in a deadly conflict between the king’s
cold-blooded assassin, the terrifying elf mafia, and Mr. Boss’ ruthless
crew. Worst of all, her only hope in outsmarting Mr. Boss lies with the
one person she hates—Greg, the most obnoxious boy in school and her
rival in the restaurant business.

But like Lailu always says, if
you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. And she’s determined
to succeed, no matter the cost!

Kids vs. parents! An
epic treehouse sleepover! An awesome group of friends! An exciting new
book from National Book Award finalist Lisa Graff.

Winnie's
last day of fourth grade ended with a pretty life-changing surprise.
That was the day Winnie s parents got divorced, the day they decided
that Winnie would live three days a week with each of them and spend
Wednesdays by herself in a treehouse smack between their houses, to
divide her time perfectly evenly between them. It was the day Winnie s
seed of frustration with her parents was planted, a seed that grew and
grew until it felt like it was as big as a tree itself.

By the
end of fifth grade, Winnie decides that the only way to change things is
to barricade herself in her treehouse until her parents come to their
senses and her friends decide to join her. It s kids versus grown-ups,
and no one wants to back down first. But with ten kids in one treehouse,
all with their own demands, Winnie discovers that things can get pretty
complicated pretty fast! Even if they are having the most epic slumber
party ever.

In the newest novel by beloved National Book Award
finalist Lisa Graff, kids have turned the tables on their parents, and
all the rules have been tossed out the window. But does Winnie have what
it takes to hold her ground and keep everyone happy?

This
story, with a pitch-perfect middle grade voice and zany yet poignant
situation, is perfect for fans of Sharon Creech, Louis Sachar, and Jack
Gantos.

Far away in the icy
wastes of Antarctica lives a warm and cuddly, kind-hearted penguin who
only wants to do good in the world . . . NOT! This is no ordinary
penguin. This is . . . EVIL EMPEROR PENGUIN! And he wants to take over
the world!

Of course, every evil ruler needs a sidekick and a
minion, and Evil Emperor Penguin is no different. That's why he has
Number 8, a very polite and thoughtful octopus who knits, and Eugene,
the incredibly cuddly abominable snowman who loves hugs.

Join
this fearsome team of Evil as they try to take over the world--and
obviously, destroy it--but get waylaid by evil cats, rogue farts, killer
plants, and visiting sisters.

Inside an enchanted castle, there s a closet a closet with one hundred magical dresses that only Darling Dimple can wear. Each one disguises her as somebody else. It turns out that Darling needs
disguises. A thief is on the loose! Someone is causing an uproar among
the servants moving things around, stealing clothes from the laundry,
and even pocketing Princess Mariposa's jewels. Then Darling and her
friend Roger think they spot a ghost roaming the halls. Could the
culprit be a spirit? Can Darling and Roger get to the bottom of it all?
With the help of the one hundred dresses, there just might be a ghost of
a chance.

It's a list of brave, daring, totally awesome things that he and his best friend,
Lucas, planned to do together, and the only item left is to hike the
Appalachian Trail. But now Lucas isn't there to do it with him.

Toby's determined to hike the trail alone and fulfill their pact, which means
dealing with the little things -- the blisters, the heat, the hunger -- and the
big things -- the bears, the loneliness, and the memories.
When a storm comes, Toby finds himself tangled up in someone else's mess: Two
boys desperately need his help. But does Toby have any help to give?

The Trail is a remarkable story of physical survival and true
friendship, about a boy who's determined to forge his own path -- and to
survive.

From the New York Times
bestselling author of Circus Mirandus comes the magic-infused story of a
golden gator, two cursed kids, and how they take their destinies into their own
hands.When the red moon rises over the heart of the Okefenokee
swamp, legend says that the mysterious golden gator Munch will grant good luck
to the poor soul foolish enough to face him.But in 1817, when TWO fools reach him at the same time, the
night’s fate is split. With disastrous consequences for both…and their
descendants. Half of the descendants have great fates, and the other half have
terrible ones.Now, Tumble Wilson and Blue Montgomery are determined to
fix their ancestors’ mistakes and banish the bad luck that’s followed them
around for all of their lives. They’re going to face Munch the gator
themselves, and they’re going to reclaim their destinies.But what if the legend of Munch is nothing but a legend,
after all?Full of friendship, family, and the everyday magic and
adventure that readers of Savvy and A Snicker of Magic love,
Cassie Beasley’s newest middle grade book is another crowd-pleasing
heart-warmer—perfect for reading by yourself, or sharing with someone you love.

Cricket Cohen isn’t a
liar, but she doesn’t always tell the exact truth. She loves thinking
about geology and astronomy and performing tricky brain surgery on her
stuffed animals. She also loves conspiring with Dodo, her feisty
grandmother who lives in the apartment right next door. And one
Manhattan weekend when she’s in hot water with her teacher and her
controlling parents over a fanciful memoir essay, Cricket goes along
with Dodo’s questionable decision to hit the bricks. Imagining all sorts
of escapades, Cricket is happy to leave home behind. But on a crosstown
adventure with an elderly woman who has her own habit of mixing truth
and fantasy, some hard realities may start to get in the way of all the
fun.

This Is Just a Testby Madelyn Rosenberg & Wendy Wan-Long ShangGoodreads

David Da-Wei Horowitz
should be preparing for his bar mitzvah, but instead, he's busy trying
to figure out how to survive the Cold War, which is hard when he can't
even make peace between friends and his dueling Chinese and Jewish
grandmothers.

A poignant middle grade debut about the friendship between a white girl and an elderly black woman in the 1960s South

Alice
is angry at having to move to Rainbow, Georgia—a too small, too hot,
dried-up place she’s sure will never feel like home. Then she gets put
in charge of walking her elderly neighbor’s dog. But Clarence won’t
budge without Miss Millie, so Alice and Miss Millie walk him together.
Strolling with Miss Millie quickly becomes the highlight of Alice’s day,
as she learns about the town’s past and meets a mix of its catty and
kind residents. As the two become confidantes, Alice is finally able to
express her heartache over her father’s desertion; and when Miss Millie
tells her family story, Alice begins to understand the shameful history
of Segregation, and recognize the racism they need to fight against.
Navigating the neighborhood with Miss Millie gives Alice new
perspective, the wisdom to move on from her anger, and even enables her
to laugh again.

Tamara Bundy’s beautifully written story reminds
readers that there is nothing like friendship to lighten one’s load, and
make anyplace a home.

Readers who have graduated from Junie B. Jones and Ivy
& Bean will fall head over heels for feisty Julie and her troublesome new
dog.
Julie has only had her dog for two weeks, but she is already causing all sorts
of problems. For starters, she is missing! Julie suspects the school bully
Danny must be behind it. But it will take some detective work, the help
of Julie’s friends, and maybe even her munchkin twin brothers to bring her new
pet home.

Wonderfully sassy and endlessly entertaining, the escapades of Julie and her
dog are just beginning!
Julie s adventures have sold across the globe and been translated into five
languages. Popular filmmaker and children’s author Galia Oz effortlessly
captures the love of a girl and her dog.

A girl discovers her
boarding school is actually an elite spy-training program, and she must
learn the skills of the trade in order to find her mother in this
action-packed middle grade debut.

After a botched escape plan
from her boarding school, Abigail is stunned to discover the school is
actually a cover for an elite spy ring called The Center, along with
being training grounds for future spies. Even more shocking? Abigail’s
mother is a top agent for The Center and she has gone MIA, with valuable
information that many people would like to have—at any cost. Along with
a former nemesis and charming boy from her grade, Abigail goes through a
crash course in Spy Training 101, often with hilarious—and sometimes
painful—results. But Abigail realizes she might be a better
spy-in-training than she thought—and the answers to her mother’s
whereabouts are a lot closer than she thinks…

Twelve-year-old Olivia Hales has a foolproof plan for
winning a million dollars so that she and her little sister, Berkeley, can
leave behind Sunny Pines Trailer Park.
But first she has to:

. Fix the swamp cooler and make dinner and put Berkeley to bed because her mom
is too busy to do all that
. Write another letter to her dad even though he hasn’t written back yet
. Teach Berk the important stuff, like how to make chalk drawings, because they
can’t afford day care and Olivia has to stay home from school to watch her
. Petition her oddball neighbors for a circus spectacular, because there needs
to be something to look forward to at dumb-bum Sunny Pines
. Become a super-secret spy to impress her new friend Bart
. Enter a minimum of fourteen sweepstakes a day. Who knows? She may already be
a winner!

Olivia has thought of everything . . . except herself. Who will take care of
her when she needs it? Luckily, somewhere deep down between her small intestine
and stomach is a tiny voice reminding her that sometimes people can surprise
you and sometimes your family is right next door.

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Do you have a favorite recent new cover? Or a favorite from this list? Let me know in the comments!